Twins Minor League Report (6/30): Max Effort

Monday was a pretty busy day for it being just a regular Monday in late June. The Twins left Texas on Sunday knowing that both 3B Trevor Plouffe and SS Eduardo Nunez were ready to be activated from the DL, yet no move was made after last night's game. And, from the sounds of it, all 25 guys in Texas took the plane back to Minneapolis.Monday afternoon, though, the Twins announced that, to make room for Plouffe and Nunez, SS Pedro Florimon (to Rochester) and SS Jorge Polanco (to Ft. Myers) would be optioned to the minor leagues.

The Miracle made room for Polanco by sending 2B Rafael Valera back to the GCL and also announced that LP Brett Lee would be activated with SS Aderling Mejia being placed on the DL.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]Rochester had two spots available. One of those was filled with Florimon. The other with the activation of OF Wilkin Ramirez.

Doug Bernier hit a fifth inning grand slam and Deibinson Romero backed that up with a seventh inning three-run blast. Both long balls followed up a Chris Colabello solo shot in the fourth. Romero and Chris Herrmann had doubles, while Bernier, Colabello and Danny Ortiz (in addition to Romero) all had two-hit games.

Scott Diamond struck out three in six innings that saw him allow only four men to reach (three hits, one walk) and the one run that he allowed helped lower his season ERA to 6.56. Lester Oliveros and Deolis Guerra closed the game out with three scoreless innings.

The Red Wings are five games behind Syracuse, despite winning their last two.

Reynaldo Rodriguez hit a pair of solo home runs and Kyle Knudson added an RBI double to complete the scoring for the Rock Cats. Aaron Hicks was 1-for-3 with a walk, but was picked off stealing. Eddie Rosario was 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.

Taylor Rogers pitched 6 2/3 innings, allowing four runs on six hits and two walks. He struck out three. Adrian Salcedo gave up four hits in recording four outs. He also allowed two runs (one earned). He struck out three. Jim Fuller gave up a walk and home run in his one inning of work. He also struck out three.

Jorge Polanco came back and was dialed in. He went 3-for-4 with a double. He also walked once. The bottom third of the lineup (Travis Harrison, Stuart Turner, Max Kepler) provided two hits apiece and four total RBI. Nate Roberts, Mike Gonzales and Dalton Hicks all added doubles. It should be noted that Roberts doubled in the first inning, but was replaced at DH by Gonzales in the third inning.

DJ Baxendale allowed two home runs and six runs total in four innings. He struck out two and walked none. Eight hits, though? Too much. Brett Lee, fresh off of the DL, picked up his 6th win, this one in relief. He allowed one hit in three innings. He struck out two and should re-gain his spot in the rotation. Steven Gruver (K, BB) and Brandon Peterson (2 K, H) each pitched an inning to shut it down.

This game will get due coverage when it finishes, but we should talk about Kohl Stewart. He only lasted four innings, giving up two runs on four hits. He walked two and struck out two. Eyewitness reports had him as throwing "way too many pitches" and, frankly, "not very good".

The real news of this game is the storm that hit the stadium hard. Video is courtesy of Jeff Johnson, who covers the Kernels for the Cedar Rapids Gazette.

Trey Vavra had three hits including a double and a stolen base. Dutch Deol (two hits, two RBI) and Tanner English (two hits, two RBI) also had stand-out offensive performances. The star, though, was Max Murphy, who was 2-for-3 with a HR. He also walked twice. Pat Kelly stole two bases. Nick Gordon was 0-for-4, but drove in a run.

Derrick Penilla pitched an inning yesterday before the game was suspended. Josue Montanez struck out three in two innings, but gave up two runs on four hits. Keaton Steele gave up a run on three hits in three innings. Kuo Hua Lo gave up two runs in two innings. Jake Reed picked up the save, his second, with a strikeout in an inning.

Well, E-town erupted for nine first-inning runs in game 2 and never looked back. Again, Max Murphy got it done: 3-for-4, 2B, 2 3B, 3 RBI. Tanner English and Austin Diemer each had three hits and a double. Jonatan Hinojosa had a two-hit game. The team combined for 16 hits.

Michael Cederoth pitched 3 2/3 innings. He struck out six, walked one and allowed two hits that resulted in one run. Sam Clay got the win with two innings of one-hit, one-walk, three-strikeout ball. C.K. Irby got the final four outs.

Logan Wade and Amaurys Minier both had two hits including a double each. Rainis Silva added a triple. Silva's two RBI and Minier's RBI accounted for all three runs.

Michael Theofanopoulus took the loss. He allowed six runs (five earned) in 1 1/3 innings. He struck out one and gave up six hits. Wilfredy Liranzo pitched the next 3 2/3 scoreless innings. He struck out five and allowed only three hits and a walk. Zach Hayden and Seth Wagner put up scoreless frames. Eduardo Del Rosario gave up two runs (one earned) in two innings.